Dread and the Fugitive Mind
by Koneko Cain
Summary: MarikBakuraSeto. Bakura is having trouble dealing with his past, but Seto and Marik are there to save him.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Yuugiou or Megadeth, but I am a member of the Megadeth fanclub. Yep, really. And I have a Malik action figure. O.o

Warnings: Weird pairings, yaoi, kinda choppy because it was written in bits, Major, major ooc-ness and Bakura angst. Also, if you're a huge Yami Yugi fan... I don't like him.

IMPORTANT! This is not a rape fic. It may sound like it at times. It isn't, right?

A/N: Title comes from a Megadeth song that reminds me of Bakura. But not as much as 'Sweating Bullets', so listen to that and disturb your parents.

Marik Yami

Malik Hikari

Bakura Yami

Ryou Hikari. Got that?

Dread and the Fugitive Mind

Part 1

Seto watched Marik watch Bakura, who was oblivious to the attention. The thief was lurking in a shadowy corner at the back of the huge room, near the coat racks and the door out onto the balcony. He probably would have been out there to get even further away from the party if it hadn't been so cold, and he'd been wearing more than a pair of white jeans and a lot of bandages.

It was Halloween, and the party had been Mokuba's reward for keeping his grades up. Seto hadn't minded too much anyway, these days Kaiba-corp. practically ran itself, and he'd had little else to do but organise this party for the last week or so. And it had to be said – no matter how annoying they were at times, Yugi-tachi never failed to provide entertainment.

Currently most of them were playing games with Mokuba in the middle of the large room he'd opted to hold the party in. The Kaiba mansion had a little _too_ much space, Seto sometimes thought. Even with all these people here, it still felt far too big. Perhaps it was because he was used to not noticing it when there was only Mokuba and himself. Although, Mokuba was off at school or out with friends a lot of the time now anyway.

"Well, they look like they're having fun," a deep voice halted Seto's train of thought. "I think my light has a thing for either Otogi or Ryou."

Seto turned to face Marik, who'd come to the party as a vampire and suited the long, flowing cloak he was wearing.

"I had no idea," Seto replied, glancing over at where Otogi, Ryou and Malik were laughing about something and playing Monopoly with the rest of Yugi-tachi. He'd never considered it before, but the three of them _did_ seem to suit each other well enough, if Malik could decide which he wanted and convince them he wasn't a complete maniac now. It didn't look to be too much of a problem, though. It had been a couple of years since they'd all reached their – somewhat uneasy at first – friendship. The only people who really didn't get on were Bakura and Yami, although Yami seemed to be trying to end the animosity between them. Bakura so far hadn't been receptive to the idea; Seto figured some scars just went too deep to heal with time.

"So, what're you supposed to be?" Marik asked, running his amethyst eyes over the black, swirling tattoos on one side of Seto's face, spiking from the corner of his eye to curve around and down his cheek. The brunette's nails had also been painted black, but that was as far as he'd gotten when it came to a Halloween costume. Other than his tattoos and painted nails, the CEO was dressed completely in black, his usual outfit minus the trench coat.

"Gothic, I suppose. It was Mokuba's idea." Seto stated, following Marik over to sit on one of the couches placed around the room. He quite enjoyed Marik's company, now that he was his own person and not just an aspect of Malik's personality.

"Hm? I think gothic is a good look for you," Marik decided, giving him another thorough inspection. Seto wasn't quite sure what to make of that, but Marik changed the subject before he needed to answer.

"It doesn't look like 'Kura's enjoying himself much, though. I heard Ryou say he had to beg for half an hour just to get him to turn up tonight." The Egyptian yami looked over at where Bakura still hadn't moved from his corner, red eyes half-lidded in thought as he stared off out of the large glass door that led onto the balcony.

"He looks tired," Seto noted, taking in the way the bandages he wore were draped all over the thief's chest and arms, revealing strips of pale skin where they hung loosely off him. The former tomb robber had come as a mummy, somewhere deep down he found it amusing. Ryou had just rolled his eyes affectionately and said that his yami was being morbid, as usual.

"Yeah," Marik agreed, frowning. "I'm worried about him."

"Why?" Seto asked, leaning back and folding his arms comfortably. He knew Marik had a soft spot for Bakura, but that was nothing unusual for Marik. Seto had noticed that he tended to look out for those not included in Yami and Yugi's inner circle of friends. Not that Yugi-tachi excluded anyone on purpose, they just tended to have certain levels of friendship without realising it. And, of course, Marik was a firm believer in the fact that some people needed looking after, even if they didn't like it. Bakura was one of these people, and Seto suspected that he was another.

"I'm not sure, he just hasn't been himself lately. I think Ryou said he'd been having nightmares or something." Marik frowned, his concern for the usually cocky little tomb robber written all over his face. Seto took this in and watched Bakura as well, not really used to being worried about anyone other than Mokuba. Marik's moods were often infectious, though, and as he watched Yami get up and wander over to the thief, Seto felt a growing sense of apprehension fill him.

XxXxX

Over in his secluded little corner, Bakura ignored the party winding down around him and continued to stare off into the darkness outside. Ryou was right, he _had_ been having nightmares lately. He wasn't sure why he was suddenly getting them now, of all times, but the lack of sleep was making him edgy.

He'd probably have been fine if the Pharaoh hadn't suddenly begun to take something of an interest in him. Whether it was trying to be friends or something more, he didn't care. He didn't want it, he'd been fine just being left alone. He got on well with Marik, Malik, his own hikari and a few others, but there were certain people he knew he'd never be able to be more than civil to, and even that was an effort at times. The unwanted attentions of the game king were probably what had triggered his nightmares, he mused. They were usually centred on his death, which hadn't been pleasant by any stretch of the word. He had no desire to relive it every night, and he resented the fact that Yami had forgotten most of his past life, while _he_ remembered much of his. The worst bits, it seemed, not that very much of it had been anything other than an ongoing struggle for survival, which he'd lost a lot sooner than he would've liked.

The darkness beyond the window was comforting to him, since he'd spent so much of his existence in it. Being trapped like that in a place where darkness covered everything all of the time, you either learned to love it or went insane.

He didn't want to be here, he wanted to be out there in the dark. Had he not given in to Ryou's pleading and turned up, though, it would have given Yami an excuse to come knocking on his door asking if he was alright.

_Speak of the Devil and he shall appear,_ Bakura thought as none other than the king of games himself crossed the large room towards him. Every instinct he had was telling him not to wait for Yami to reach him. Go out onto the balcony, climb down to the ground and get out of this place, they told him. It was too late, though. Yami stood before him, looking mildly concerned because of the shadows beneath his eyes from lack of sleep and the way he leant heavily on the wall for support.

"Are you alright? Ryou mentioned you haven't been getting much sleep lately," Yami said, running his eyes over Bakura in a way that made the thief's skin crawl with disgust.

"I'm fine," he growled, making a mental note to have a word with his hikari about not broadcasting his weaknesses to the entire world.

"You don't look fine," Yami persisted, frowning in disapproval at Bakura's ever-present attitude.

"I am _fine_." The grave robber hissed, eyes glittering angrily. He didn't want Yami near him. His skin was starting to prickle with sweat and the pharaoh's deep voice was setting off ripples in his memory, words dredging up images that made him swallow hard against the bile rising in his throat. Not even _he_ had deserved to die like that, he thought bitterly through the rising wave of panic. He fought it back for a moment, trying to focus on what the pharaoh was saying to him, but when Yami took a step forward and laid a hand on his arm in a supposedly comforting gesture, Bakura's resolve broke.

Staggering back from the touch with an animal snarl and a panicked look in his eyes, Bakura shuddered and decided he'd had quite enough contact with the pharaoh for one night.

"I'm leaving," he spat venomously. Yami looked worried and moved forward to try and stop him running off, but Bakura darted around him and out through the balcony door, leaping over the side and vanishing into the darkness.

TBC.

"Madness comes, and madness goes  
An insane place, with insane moves  
Battles without, for battles within  
Where evil lives and evil rules  
Breaking them up, just breaking them in  
Quickest way out, quickest relief wins  
Never disclose, never betray  
Cease to speak or cease to breathe  
And when you kill a man, you're a murderer  
Kill many, and you're a conqueror  
Kill them all ... Ooh ... Oh you're a God!"

Fear the random Megadeth lyrics, and review or fear the wrath of the sleepy authoress.


	2. Chapter 2

Dread and the Fugitive Mind - Part 2

"I'm going after him," Marik told Seto, not waiting for a reply as he hurried out of the room, stopping to grab his coat on the way.

Frowning and standing up, Seto shook his head in frustration and glared at the world in general.

"People never think these things through," he muttered to himself, glancing over to see what Yugi-tachi were doing. They seemed to have progressed to playing strip-Monopoly now, however that worked, and Yami had rejoined them after Bakura had run off. Deciding he didn't need to worry about them for a little while, Seto stalked over to the coat rack and pulled on his familiar white trench coat. Picking up his keys from the dish on the hall table on the way, the CEO made his way out of the house and into the cold night air.

XxXxXxXxX

It took Marik a while to realise just how cold it really was outside, but by the time Seto's dark blue sports car pulled to a stop next to him the icy wind had chilled him to the bone.

"Get in," the brunette said simply, leaning across to open the door for the shaking Egyptian.

"I always knew you were smart," Marik remarked as he got in and closed the door, warming his freezing hands with the hot air blowing from the heater.

"I thought everyone knew I was smart," Seto said as he started the car up again and drove slowly down the dark road, keeping an eye out for Bakura.

"I'm wearing a shirt, a cloak and a coat, and I'm still freezing. Bakura's only wearing a bunch of bandages." Marik pointed out in a worried voice.

"We'll find him, he won't have gotten very far in this," Seto reasoned as raindrops began to splatter against the windscreen.

"He'd probably forgotten he's mortal again," Marik guessed. "It's harder than you'd think remembering all the little things about it. You get so used to being a spirit, and then suddenly fire can burn you again. Even after two years, I still keep making mistakes."

"I can't say I've ever had that problem," Seto replied dryly, turning off down a road that led towards Ryou and Bakura's house.

"There!" Marik growled suddenly, pointing at a flash of white against the stormy darkness on the other side of the road.

Seto bought the car to a stop and followed Marik out across the empty street to where he'd spotted Bakura, over by a garden with skeletal-looking trees lining the driveway.

As they approached, Seto could see Bakura stood with his back leant against one of the trees out of the wind, his head down and his hair soaked with rain. The bandages he'd been wearing were hanging off his arms and the skin beneath was so pale it almost looked grey.

"Bakura, you ok?" Marik asked, while Seto took off his trench coat and wrapped the thick, heavy fabric around the thief's bare shoulders, which were shaking from the cold.

Bakura raised his head slowly to look at them with a pair of tired, red eyes. He seemed about to say something, but before he managed to get a word out his knees gave way and he slid to kneel on the ground, shuddering.

"Can you lift him?" Seto asked Marik as the purple eyed yami leant and easily picked up the dazed grave robber.

"Sure, he's even lighter than Ryou," Marik said, quite surprised at that fact.

"Good, sit with him in the back and we'll get him back to the mansion. That way I can call a doctor out to look him over," Seto decided, holding the back door of the car open for the tomb keeper to get in with Bakura, who had his eyes closed and a look of pain on his pale face.

"Sounds good, right Bakura?" Marik tried as Seto closed the door and climbed into the driver's seat, pulling a U-turn and heading off back towards the Kaiba mansion.

Dripping wet and frozen to the core, Bakura managed to open his eyes enough to send Marik a weak glare before they slid closed again. He wasn't pleased about being held like a child on the bigger yami's lap, but he couldn't summon the strength to move. At least now, wrapped up in Seto's coat and Marik's arms, it was warm. That thought in mind, Bakura gave up trying to stay awake any longer.

Marik felt Bakura go limp in his arms and looked up urgently at Seto, who caught the expression in the rear-view mirror. Locking his eyes back on the road, Seto put his foot down.

TBC

The drama, heheh. I have most of this fic written already... and a one-shot sequel. It's fun finally giving in and writing Bakura this way. Again, I'm sorry for the insane ooc-ness, but it was just more fun to write them this way. Review like good minions!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Short chapter. Sorry!

Part 3

"Let's take him in the back way, I'm sure he wouldn't want the others seeing him like this," Seto decided, driving the car around to pull up at the back entrance to the mansion.

"Good thinking, if Ryou sees this he'll only worry himself sick, and the rest'd just try to help and end up getting in the way." Marik agreed. Neither of them mentioned Yami and why Bakura had run off in the first place. That could wait for later.

Parking the car as close to the door as he could, Seto got out and opened the car door for Marik. Helping him get the unconscious grave robber out, Seto looked up into Marik's eyes to check that he was ok carrying Bakura. Getting a brief nod of reassurance, the brunette led the way through the rainy darkness to the back of the mansion and unlocked the door, letting them into the kitchens before locking up again.

"This way," Seto murmured, leading Marik through the large kitchens and up the back stairs as quietly as he could manage.

Following Seto through the maze of a mansion, Marik looked down at the thief in his arms. Bakura wasn't heavy at all, and Marik had never seen him sleeping before. With his guard down, he looked almost like a child.

Looking back up again, he followed Seto along the corridors of the upper floor towards a room at the far end. He knew they needed to talk about Bakura – about what was wrong with the thief.

That, and how they each felt about him.

"Here, the others are staying on the other side of the mansion, they shouldn't disturb him here but we can keep an eye on him. This is my room, and you can take this one," Seto gestured to two identical-looking rooms on either side of a middle one at the very end of the corridor.

"It's lucky you have such an oversized house for once," Marik grinned lightly, entering the room after Seto, who switched on the lights then lowered them with the dimmer switch on the wall.

"It has its uses. You'll watch him while I call the doctor and check on Mokuba and the others? I'll bring up something to eat, and there should be dry clothes in the wardrobe." Seto asked, as Marik gently laid Bakura down on the huge bed in the middle of the room.

"I'll be fine, until 'Kura wakes up and realises one of us undressed him…" Marik trailed off weakly, knowing the thief wasn't going to be happy. Bakura in a rage wasn't something he'd wish upon anyone, but they could hardly leave him in soaking jeans and tattered bandages.

"I'm sure he'll forgive you on this occasion," Seto almost smiled, hearing Marik's mutter of 'I hope so' as he left.

XxXxX

After quickly pulling on a dry pair of slacks and a T-shirt that was a little too small for him, Marik tossed his wet clothes in a corner with Seto's trench coat and sat on the edge of the bed.

"'Kura?" The Egyptian tried. Getting no response from the sleeping albino, Marik carefully leant over him and unravelled the damp bandages, throwing them onto the pile of wet clothes.

The thief was still shaking a little and his skin was cold to the touch, but he'd lost the grey pallor he'd had when they found him.

"You're going to kill me for this in the morning," Marik muttered, before unbuttoning Bakura's white jeans and peeling them off his long legs. Tossing them into the corner as well, Marik couldn't help but admire the tomb robber's lithe muscles and perfect, pale skin for a moment before setting about getting Bakura into a dry shirt. It was long enough to serve as a night-shirt and Marik assumed it was one of Seto's old ones since it reached halfway down Bakura's thighs and was much too big for him.

After managing to get Bakura into a loose pair of boxers as well, Marik tucked the covers up to Bakura's chest and laid back across the foot of the bed to stare at the ceiling. He wondered if he'd ever be able to get the image of Bakura lying there naked and unconscious out of his head. Seto would probably laugh at him. Of course, that led to wondering what Seto would look like in the same position, and Marik ran a hand through his hair, deciding that letting his mind run away with him right now was a bad idea.

Sighing, the tomb keeper got up and pulled a chair over beside the bed. At least he could make himself useful and watch over Bakura, he supposed.

TBC


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed so far, you guys rock. And why the bloody hell does FFN keep taking out half of my punctuation?

Part 4

"Well, he should be just fine. Luckily you got him warmed up and out of the cold, he might have a slight fever but it's nothing to be worried about. Just keep an eye on him, make sure he doesn't overexert himself." The doctor, a large, friendly man with a greying beard, instructed. He brushed a hand against Bakura's forehead, checking for any signs of fever and smiling when he found none.

"Thank you for coming out this late, you'll be compensated for the inconvenience." Seto assured, seeing the doctor out of the room and down the stairs to the front door of the mansion.

"It's no trouble at all, if you have any problems just give me a call. Goodnight, Mr. Kaiba." The doctor nodded his head politely, heading out into the darkness back to his car.

"Goodnight."

XxXxX

"Well, there's some good news. I figured he'd be bedridden for days," Marik remarked as Seto joined him in Bakura's room, handing the violent eyed yami a mug of hot soup. Marik took it gratefully, watching Seto take a delicate sip from his own mug.

"He just needs to sleep it off," the CEO murmured over the steam rising from his soup. He was actually glad Marik was there; for once he didn't have to deal with everything on his own. It had been a stressful night, but it was comforting to know Marik had been there with him the whole time, watching Bakura while he called the doctor, carrying the smaller yami into the house… One of the things he liked about Marik was that while being much stronger than him, the yami just did what he asked when it was important without arguing. He didn't contest who was running the show, he trusted Seto to know what he was doing and followed along with it, making himself useful where he could. Seto respected him for that, which didn't happen often.

"Is everyone else still downstairs?" Marik asked, following Seto out of Bakura's room, leaving the thief to sleep.

"No, they went to bed about half an hour ago," the brunette yawned. "We should get some sleep too, we can deal with everything else in the morning." He liked being able to say 'we' can deal with everything for once.

"Good idea, it's after three. I can foresee tomorrow being an interesting day…" Marik sighed.

"Lovely," The CEO muttered flatly, making the Egyptian laugh.

"'Night, Seto." Marik grinned, raising his mug in a salute before heading off into his room.

Seto made his way into his own room and closed the door, setting his soup down while he got ready for bed. Only once he laid his head down on the pillow did he realise that Marik had called him by his first name.

XxXxX

He'd never been much of a morning person, but when he woke up to the sound of a door closing somewhere in the building Bakura groaned and buried his face in the pillow. For a few minutes he lay still, slowly remembering the night before and piecing together what must have happened after he'd passed out.

This, he supposed, must be the Kaiba mansion again. He remembered hearing someone say something about bringing him back here.

Well, he mused, there was no point in laying in bed all day. Yanking the covers off, he got up unsteadily and noticed what he was wearing. That meant one of those two had undressed him… For a moment he mulled over getting angry about it, then sighed. He was still drained from the night before, and decided he didn't have the energy. He'd just make a note to find out who it was and get them back later.

Yawning sleepily, the albino tomb robber opened the door and slowly made his way downstairs towards the dining room.

XxXxX

Seto, being naturally an early riser, had been up for more than an hour even after the drama of the previous night. He'd started making breakfast himself, since his cook had been fired years before. He usually made his own meals anyway, but this morning Marik appeared after half an hour or so and helped out. By the time Yami made it downstairs – being the first of Yugi-tachi to wake up – there was a huge plate of pancakes in the middle of the enormous dining table.

"You made enough for an army," the game king commented as Seto sat down at the table and Marik took a seat next to him.

"Then we'd better eat what we can before Jounouchi and Honda get down here," Marik grinned, pouring syrup over his pancakes.

"You have a point," Yami conceded, taking a seat and a plate as well. "Did you manage to catch the tomb robber last night?" The pharaoh smirked, cutting up his pancake into squares.

"He came back here with us, if that's what you mean," Seto frowned, not liking the tone of Yami's voice.

"Mmmh?" A sleepy murmur came from over by the doorway and the three at the table looked over to see Bakura standing there rubbing his eyes groggily, wearing a shirt and shirts that showed off his long, shapely legs.

"'Morning, 'Kura," Marik smiled at the sleepy thief, pulling out a chair by himself and Seto for the grave robber to sit down. "Hungry?"

"Mh, coffee…" Bakura mumbled, and Seto poured him out a cup, eyes sparkling in amusement because he'd never seen how… well, cute Bakura acted in the mornings.

Giving Yami a wary if sleepy glare, Bakura made his way around the side of the table towards where Seto and Marik sat.

"Nice legs, tomb robber," Yami laughed as the thief passed him. Instead of turning and glaring death at the Pharaoh as Marik and Seto expected, Bakura froze as though someone had just pressed a gun to his back, his eyes widened in shock.

"Bakura?" Seto questioned, surprised when the thief suddenly turned and bolted back out of the room. In the moment of silence that followed they could hear his footsteps running up the stairs and a door slamming at the top.

"What was that all about?" Yami asked, puzzled.

"I'm going to find out," Seto growled, now certain that Yami was causing Bakura to act so strangely, whether it was intentional or not.

"He's even more insane than I thought," the Pharaoh snorted as Seto left the dining room and headed up to Bakura's room, Marik right behind him.

"It's him, isn't it? He must have done something," Marik echoed Seto's thoughts as they rushed to the albino yami's room. Opening the door, though, all they found was an open window.

"Damn it!" Marik snarled, checking outside to see if he could catch a glimpse of the tomb robber.

"He'll be ok for now, there's no use going out and dragging him back here again." Seto sighed. "The closet's open, it looks like he at least took some warm clothes this time."

Marik glanced at the closet and dragged a hand through his hair, cursing.

"Ok," he finally said, moving to sit on the bed beside Seto. "You're the level-headed genius here. What are we going to do about this?"

Thinking for a minute, Seto smirked. He liked the fact that Marik didn't even consider that it wasn't their problem. He was going to make it their problem whether Bakura liked it or not. Once Marik decided something, it was almost impossible to change his mind.

"First, we're going to go back down, have breakfast and get rid of the Super Friends. Then I'm going to need to make some phone calls."

Marik laughed lightly. He loved it when Seto had a plan.

TBC

Review like nice people.


	5. Chapter 5

Dread and the Fugitive Mind

Part 5

"I'll make the arrangements after everyone's gone, just remember-"

"It was my idea. Gotcha." Marik cut Seto off. "Wouldn't want 'em all thinking you care, now!" The yami grinned as they approached the doors to the dining room where Yugi-tachi were eating breakfast.

"I have a reputation, you know," Seto muttered, not really happy with the plan but trusting Marik if he thought it was a good idea.

"Hey," Marik stopped him as they were about to enter. Seto turned back to see what he wanted and the yami took his hand, kissing the back of it with a grin on his lips. "Thanks for doing this."

"I-" Seto began, hand tingling. Marik had already gone into the dining room, though, so the brunette fought down the faint tinge of a blush and followed.

XxXxX

"Oi, listen up mortals. And Pharaoh." Marik demanded, taking a seat at the head of the table. Seto sat down in the only other seat available, next to Yugi and Ryou, and sipped a glass of orange juice thoughtfully.

"Right. We're all going camping. It's a reunion. Completely voluntary, but anyone who doesn't turn up will face my wrath. And Ryou, tell Bakura he's coming too whether he likes it or not." Marik announced, then calmly reached across the table and stabbed a pancake with his fork, bringing it onto his own plate and drenching it in syrup.

Everyone stared at him for a moment before Yugi piped up.

"That's a good idea, I like camping," he smiled happily. Jou, as usual, agreed with him.

"Why the hell do we need a reunion when we see each other all the time?" Malik asked, raising an eyebrow in question.

"Because I'm big, scary and occasionally crazy, and I've decided we're going to have one." Marik smirked. /Go with it, hikari. I'll explain later./ The yami sent through his link with Malik.

"Fair enough, I'm not arguing with that." Malik shrugged, going back to his breakfast.

"Good, good. Any more objections?" Marik demanded.

"Yeah, I have work and I just took a holiday. I'm not gonna get any more time off for a while," Honda explained, looking a little nervous in case Marik had a problem with him not being there.

"Hmph. Fine, you can stay, but don't think anyone else is getting out of it!" The yami pointed the syrup bottle at them all as though it were a dangerous weapon.

"It sounds like fun," Otogi twirled his die earring around his finger idly. "As long as there aren't too many bugs, that is."

"Er…" Ryou began, looking apprehensive. Everyone turned to stare at him, which didn't help much.

"What's up?" Yugi asked.

"Bakura says he's not going. There was quite a lot of swearing involved," the English hikari informed them, having told his yami the news through their link.

"Tell him I'll tie him up and strap him to the roof rack if I have to." Marik cracked his knuckles evilly.

"He says – I can't say that! Hang on a minute, he's swearing again… Oh. He says no." Ryou sighed.

"Well tell him he either changes that answer to a yes or I'm going over there to talk him into it, and it'll involve making him watch The Sound of Music twenty times in a row."

"He says you wouldn't dare," Ryou smiled a little, knowing that Marik always got his own way in the end.

"Tell him I said try me. I have a roll of duct tape so he can't even scream for mercy." The yami threatened wickedly. Seto was quite impressed.

"…He says he'll think about it," Ryou said after a little pause.

"Oh, no. I want a yes or no answer! Right now! I have an entire collection of Disney movies with his name on!" Marik warned, looking quite evil but ruining it by snickering at the thought of forcing Bakura to watch The Little Mermaid.

"He says 'oh, alright then, damn you all.' Er, actually, there was quite a lot more to it than that, but you got the gist." Ryou winced. "He's gone off to plot his revenge now," the hikari smiled weakly.

"I'm so good," Marik congratulated himself.

Behind his hand, where nobody else could see, Seto smiled.

XxXxX

"I've booked three cabins for a week. Now we just need to figure out who's staying where," Seto informed Marik as he put his cell phone down and perched on the edge of the desk in his office. Yugi-tachi had gone home an hour ago, but Marik had stayed behind to help plan, which Seto was grateful for.

"Well, the whole point of this is to keep an eye on 'Kura, so I guess we're sharing with him. Is Mokuba going?" Marik asked, leaning back on one of the couches in the room comfortably, with a pad or paper and a pen. He was scribbling down the names of everyone who was going on the trip and trying to work out which cabins to put them in.

"No, he has school. So does Jounouchi's sister, and Honda has work." Seto said, hoping Mokuba would be alright with a babysitter for a week.

"Right. We can't put the Pharaoh anywhere near 'Kura, he'll probably want to be near Yugi anyway. My hikari has a thing for either Ryou or Otogi, I haven't figured it out yet, so I'm sticking those three together. Jou and Yugi are a couple, so they're together too. Ishizu isn't coming, she says she'll be glad of the peace. And of course Mai's gonna stay with her, Anzu's a definite no…" Marik trailed off and looked at his notepad, chewing the end of the pen for a moment. "Ok, 'Kura, you and I are in the first cabin; Malik, Ryou and Otogi are in the second; and Pharaoh, Yugi and Jounouchi are in the third."

"That should work. Did you tell them we're staying in cabins?" Seto asked.

"Nah, I let 'em think we're spending a week in tents. Heheh. Don't worry, I'll tell them before we leave." Marik laughed. He thought it was funny that Yugi-tachi were scared of him enough that they'd agree to spend a week in a tent.

"Alright, so I suppose all we have to do is keep Yami away from Bakura long enough to find out what's wrong with him, and try not to make anyone too suspicious," Seto summed it up.

"Yeah, 'Kura already has us meddling with his life, I'm sure he'd love it if everyone else started too." Marik grimaced, knowing that Bakura would end up either killing them all or running off for good.

"Then we'll just have to make sure everyone else is sufficiently distracted with the great outdoors," Seto decided, folding his arms in determination. "We're leaving the day after tomorrow."

TBC

Listen to Megadeth. Yes. And review.


	6. Chapter 6

Dread and the Fugitive Mind

Part 6

"He calls this roughing it? This thing's bigger than my house!" Malik exclaimed, slinging his bags down on one of the two beds in the room he was sharing with Otogi. Ryou was off in the room he had all to himself, and everyone else was settling into the other two cabins.

The cabins themselves were much bigger than he'd expected after Marik had finally told them they wouldn't be spending the week in tents. The three wooden holiday cabins formed a circle nestled deep in the middle of the thick woods to the north of Domino City. In the middle of the circle was a stone ring to set a campfire, surrounded by logs with the tops smoothed down to make seats.

They'd split up to put their things away and have a rest and a chance to look around, agreeing to meet up again to light the campfire once it got dark in a few hours.

"Thirsty?" Ryou asked, entering the room behind Otogi and handing them both a can of soda each.

"Thanks," Malik grinned, falling back onto the end of the bed with a sigh of happiness. Otogi opened his drink and sat down too, dragging Ryou down with him. It'd been a while since they'd been away from the city and he was going to enjoy being on holiday and not having to work for once.

Ryou escaped from Otogi's clutches and busied himself putting the dice player's scattered clothes in the wardrobe for him while Malik watched them both, trying not to draw too much attention to the fact that he was staring at his two closest friends.

A year or two ago the thought of sharing a room with Otogi for a week would have had him glaring death at Ryou until he got the single room. But now he was glad Otogi was there with him, not minding the close quarters like he would have once. The dice expert was equally clever and ditzy, and could make him laugh like nobody else. Then there was Ryou, who was quiet, responsible, occasionally eccentric and liked heavy metal. Those two were sure to keep him entertained for the rest of the week. He just hoped they thought the same about him, and that the others were getting on as well with their cabin mates.

XxXxX

"Heh, Pharaoh's going to have fun over there being the third wheel while Yugi and Jounouchi paw at each other," Marik smirked, looking out of the window in the large living room/kitchen of their cabin.

"There's an image I really needed," Seto muttered, rolling his eyes and wandering over to make them all a snack as Bakura finished his shower and joined them, looking tired again. The thief's white hair was dripping wet around his shoulders, soaking the grey shirt he was wearing as he sat down on the couch.

"You're getting water everywhere, 'Kura." Marik pointed out, grabbing a spare towel from one of the chairs. "Let me help you with that…" The golden skinned yami came up behind Bakura and sat down, wrapping the towel over his hair to soak up the water.

"I can do it myself, get… get off…" The tomb robber trailed off, shivering in pleasure at the feeling of Marik's long fingers running through his hair gently.

Seto watched discreetly, impressed that Marik could tame the fiery thief so fast. Bakura was leaning lightly back against Marik's chest, eyes half-lidded and barely seeming to realise what he was doing. He looked beautiful relaxed like that as the bigger yami ran skilful fingers through his hair down to his neck and shoulders.

Not wanting to do anything that might snap Bakura out of the calm little moment and bring his guard back up, Seto carried on quietly making sandwiches over in the little kitchen area, on the other side of an 'L'-shaped counter separating it from the rest of the large room.

He hadn't ever seen Bakura so content when he was awake before, the tomb robber was almost purring and his eyes were sliding closed. Seto supposed the thief must still be exhausted, Ryou had told Marik that the nightmares were still keeping his yami up at night and it'd only been a few days since he'd passed out on them during the Halloween party.

"Go to sleep, 'Kura. We won't let anyone in and we'll wake you when it's time to go out to the campfire." Marik said in a low, soothing voice.

"Mmmhh…" Bakura murmured, relaxing completely against the Egyptian yami. His eyes closed and within a few minutes his breathing had evened out into the steady rhythm of sleep. Marik gently laid the albino yami back on the couch and stood up, fetching a blanket to drape over him.

"He needs to sleep," Marik said quietly, making his way over to Seto and snaking a hand around the brunette to grab a sandwich from the plate.

"He must trust you if he'd fall asleep against you like that," Seto remarked, glancing over at the pale thief sleeping on the couch across the room.

"He trusts you too, or he wouldn't have fallen asleep with you in the room. Or even in the cabin, for that matter," Marik pointed out.

"Good," Seto smiled slightly, "he might just tell us what's bothering him yet." The brunette yawned, tired from having watched Bakura fall asleep.

"I think you're next," the yami grinned, wrapping his arms around Seto's thin waist from behind.

"I should finish putting everything away-"

"I can do that. Come here and let me work my magic," Marik smirked, taking Seto's hand and pulling him over to the other couch, on the other side of a low coffee table from the one Bakura slept on.

"Lay down and stop worrying. Just because we have a secret agenda doesn't mean this isn't still a holiday." Marik said as he waited for Seto to lay down on the couch before sitting beside him and running skilled hands over his back.

"You don't have to-" Seto began, but trailed off with a groan as the yami's fingers worked out a knot in his shoulder.

"Relax…" Marik murmured, and Seto smiled tiredly, putting all thoughts of everything he needed to do out of his mind and closing his eyes.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

Dread and the Fugitive Mind

Part 7.

"Bakura, wake up. It's time to go," a smooth, deep voice roused the yami from his peaceful sleep. Opening his eyes quickly and wondering how he could've allowed himself to just fall asleep as he had, Bakura relaxed a little at seeing Seto standing over him. The brunette's hair was a little ruffled as though he'd just woken up himself, his dark blue eyes still sleepy-looking.

"Hn," the yami muttered tiredly, sitting up and taking a glance around the room. There didn't seem to be anyone else in the cabin apart from Seto, so Bakura deemed it safe territory for now. He didn't question the fact that Seto was one of the three people in the entire world he didn't need to be on his guard around, the other two being his hikari and Marik. Which bought up the question…

"Where is Marik?" Bakura asked as he stood up and stretched, trying to make the question sound like he wasn't really asking something and he didn't really care anyway. He knew that Seto was an expert at reading people and would see right through him, but he also knew that the CEO wouldn't call him on it.

"He'll be back soon, he went to tell everyone he'll be lighting the fire in ten minutes." Seto explained, running his fingers through his hair to smooth it down a little.

"Great. This is going to be exactly my idea of fun," Bakura muttered sarcastically, wandering over to the kitchen area to make coffee.

"Grin and bear it, I suppose. Personally I'd rather read a book, but I wouldn't want to disappoint Marik. He seems quite excited about it." Seto smiled a little.

"That probably has something to do with him getting to light a fire," Bakura grinned, the smell of fresh coffee doing wonders for his mood. He poured himself out a cup and then poured one for Seto, handing it to the brunette over the counter separating them.

"Thanks." Seto took the cup, fingers brushing Bakura's for a moment. The yami raised his gaze to the deep blue one staring back at him, trying to read the CEO but only getting as far as admiring his sapphire eyes before the door swung open.

Startled, Bakura almost dropped his cup but caught himself, splashing the hot coffee over his hand. It wasn't hot enough to do more than sting a little, but his sharp, hissed breath of surprise had Seto by his side in an instant. The brunette took the cup from him and placed it down on the counter before taking his hand and wiping the liquid off gently with a tea towel.

"You ok, 'Kura?" Marik asked, coming over to lean against the counter and peer over to make sure the thief wasn't hurt.

"I'm fine," Bakura replied distractedly, watching Seto's fingers running over his pale hand, checking for burns. It hadn't even been that hot, he wondered why the CEO cared so much.

"It looks alright. Does it hurt?" Seto asked.

"No." Bakura took his hand back slowly as Seto let him go, his skin still tingling from the brunette's touch. Neither Seto nor Marik had asked why he was so jumpy yet. He knew they'd want to know eventually, but for now he was grateful that they were leaving it alone.

"Well, shall we go?" Marik suggested now that the little drama was over, looking forward to sitting around the campfire a lot more than his two companions were.

"If we must," Bakura sighed, looking put-upon. Marik just laughed and jumped easily over the counter, grabbing Seto and Bakura's hands and pulling them out the door like an excited child.

XxXxX

The whole thing wasn't actually as bad as Bakura had been expecting. Marik got a roaring fire going within minutes and Malik and Ryou set up a stereo with an extension cable so they had music playing. Otogi had taken care of bringing out plenty of drinks, and Yugi, Jou and Yami were in charge of the food. They'd bought out pretty much everything it was possible to cook by holding it over an open fire on a stick.

He didn't even have to socialise much, either. Seto had picked the most secluded log-bench for them to sit on. It was on the opposite side of the fire from everyone else, which suited Bakura just fine. He was sitting between Marik and Seto, joining the CEO watching the Egyptian yami trying to toast marshmallows.

"Perhaps if you held them above the fire they'd stop bursting into flames," Seto suggested helpfully.

"I'm not eating that." Bakura eyed the remains of the marshmallow Marik was holding out for him dubiously.

"It's fine! There's absolutely nothing wrong with it!" The tomb keeper insisted.

"It's charcoal." Bakura pointed out, taking the incinerated former marshmallow and dragging it down the tree just behind their bench, leaving a thick black line. "Look, you can draw with it."

"He has a point, it could pass for a lump of coal." Seto agreed, laughing at the look on Marik's face, which was almost a pout.

"Here, let me bloody well do it." Bakura took one of the thin sticks and skewered a marshmallow, held it over the flames for a few moments then shoved it in Marik's mouth.

"Mmmph!" The tomb keeper laughed through a mouthful of marshmallow. "'S good, you're cooking tonight!"

XxXxX

On the other side of the fire, Yami ignored the fun going on around him for a minute and watched Bakura through the fire. The thief and Seto were both toasting marshmallows – it looked like they were trying to find out how many they could make Marik eat before it killed him. It was the smiles on their faces that annoyed Yami. Seto smiling was rare enough, but even Bakura looked like he was enjoying himself for once.

The pharaoh frowned, sipping his drink and staring at the ghostly tomb robber through the flames. It annoyed him that Seto and Marik had Bakura all to themselves. He wondered what they had that he didn't and what the thief saw in them.

Turning back to his friends, Yami gave them his full attention again, deciding that he'd just have to catch Bakura alone sometime soon and ask him about it.

TBC


	8. Chapter 8

Dread and the Fugitive Mind   
Part 8 

"I feel sick." Marik grinned idiotically as the three made their way back to their cabin. It was almost 2am and the party had finally burnt itself out along with the fire. Everyone was tired, so they'd said their goodnights and gone their separate ways to get a little sleep, or other things in the case of Otogi, Malik and Ryou. They'd been flirting all night, though it had mostly been Otogi's doing.

"That dice freak and Malik are going to have their perverted way with my hikari," Bakura frowned. "I hate it when he leaves his link open." The albino shivered, scowling, and Seto realised he must be feeling whatever Otogi and Marik's hikari were doing to Ryou. Luckily (or not) for Marik, Malik tended to keep their link closed when he wasn't talking to his yami. This, Seto mused, was probably going to get interesting. Marik seemed to have realised the same thing because he was looking decidedly less sick than he had been a few minutes ago.

"We should watch a movie. Only lightweights go to bed this early." Marik suggested, and Seto had to admire his manipulative skills. There was no way Bakura's pride would let him back down from that challenge and slink off to bed now.

"Fine, as long as it's not some chick-flick." The thief said. Any movie with flowers, weddings and girly music made him cringe.

"I had them stock our cabin with every zombie movie ever made," Seto informed them. It hadn't been hard to figure out what the two former spirits would want to watch, and Seto didn't mind sitting through them.

"Evil Dead?" Marik did his version of puppy eyes and Seto laughed quietly.

"The full set, and all the games." He smirked. Marik's eyes lit up like a child in a toy shop with a blank cheque and even Bakura looked pleased, if slightly flushed.

"I could kiss you. In fact…"

Before Seto had a chance to do so much as blink, Marik had leant over and kissed his cheek, then licked it for good measure.

"Hey 'Kura, wanna be next?" The tomb keeper leered as Seto fought down the urge to blush like a girl and followed the two yamis into the cabin, locking the door behind them.

"We never did find out how many marshmallows it'd take to kill you…" Bakura threatened, though he couldn't stop the slight grin when Marik made a face at him.

Meanwhile, Seto found the movie and set it up, dimming the lights. He sat down on one end of the couch and the two yamis followed, Bakura in the middle again. He was starting to get used to that.

"Prepare for zombies! Mwahahah!" Marik cackled happily, kicking back for his favourite movie.

XxXxX

Seto spent most of the movie discreetly watching Bakura, who was definitely starting to feel the effects of whatever Otogi and Malik were doing to Ryou. From the way the thief was trying not to writhe in his seat it wasn't hard to imagine what was going on in the middle cabin.

He knew that Marik was watching too, he just couldn't seem to catch the tomb keeper at it. There was no way he'd miss this, though, even for Army of Darkness. Bakura was laid back limply on the couch with his eyes closed in the near darkness, his breathing shaky as he concentrated on keeping it quiet and blocking out the feelings filtering through the link that his hikari had left wide open. Every now and then he'd arch up a little or shudder and bite back a curse, it was more interesting than the movie watching the thief struggling to keep control. He felt a little guilty, but there wasn't much he could do about it either way. He supposed he could suggest they went to bed, giving Bakura his privacy, but the movie was almost over anyway.

"Well," Marik said as the ending credits began to roll down the screen, "I suppose we should turn in, they'll probably want us to do scary group things in the morning." The violet-eyed yami made a face at the thought. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Bakura pull himself together and stand up.

"There are only two bedrooms," Seto began, frowning. Bakura had a light flush across his pale cheeks and he looked about ready to either scream or collapse.

"I'll take the couch, you two sleep well." Marik waved them away and crashed on the sofa, crossing his ankles on the armrest.

"'Night." Bakura managed, heading off quickly to his room. His voice had sounded strained and Marik couldn't help but crack a grin. Seto, however, was still frowning and hadn't made a move towards the remaining bedroom.

"Something wrong?" Marik asked, noticing that Seto was still there.

"You're far too tall to sleep comfortably on that couch." The brunette pointed out. Marik was the only one out of the whole of Yugi-tachi who was actually taller than him. "I don't mind sharing the bed."

Marik looked up in surprise, raising an eyebrow.

"Are you sure?" He asked, feeling a crick forming in his neck already from lying on the couch.

"Come on, you're not getting out of socialising with Yugi's gang just because you gave yourself back ache." Seto smirked.

"Damn, my plan is foiled. You saw right through me." Marik grinned, hauling himself up and following Seto into the second bedroom.

"If I have to put up with them, so do you." The CEO insisted, moving into the small bathroom to change.

"Or we could grab 'Kura in the morning and head off somewhere before the Super Friends and the hikaris wake up…" Marik suggested slyly, stripping down to nothing then pulling on a pair of black boxers.

"You mean you want to run away." Seto summed it up nicely and Marik grimaced.

"When you put it like that it sounds cowardly. I'm talking about some nice alone time, just the three of us with no hikaris or cheerleaders."

"Running away." Seto laughed. "But it sounds better than spending the day with Yugi's fan club." The brunette decided, coming out of the bathroom in a pair of dark blue pyjamas. He paused a moment, a little surprised at the sight of Marik's bare chest. The Egyptian was a lot more muscular than he looked with his shirt on.

"You haven't seen my back yet," the yami smirked, turning so that Seto had a perfect view of the tattoos covering his golden-brown skin.

"…I heard about this… but I never realised…" Seto said in quiet awe as he walked up behind Marik to run long fingers over the ink-coloured scar tissue forming words and pictures over the entire expanse of Marik's back.

"Malik calls them tattoos, but they were cut and burned into our skin. I guess they're more like brands." The Egyptian said softly, feeling the careful, tentative way Seto touched the scars, as if they might still hurt after all this time.

"I had no idea it was this extensive, to do that to a child…" Seto frowned, trying not to imagine anything like that ever happening to Mokuba.

Marik smiled and turned around so he could look at Seto.

"Malik's father got what was coming to him. It bought me into the world anyway. But… the scars are one of the reasons I never joined the Pharaoh's friendship cult, even after we stopped fighting. He's not nearly as pure and just as he likes to make out. If this was done to Malik and I for him, I hate to think what he did to Bakura." Marik growled.

"We'll find out when he's ready to tell us, I don't think it's something we should push." Seto advised.

"You're right, as usual." Marik smiled. "Thank Ra you're here, it's a lot easier to see straight with you around. Without you I'd probably just have gone and gotten myself banished again for trying to beat up the pharaoh." The yami took Seto's hand and once again raised it to his lips, kissing the back of it.

"Do you think… a relationship would work if there were three people in it?" Seto murmured, feeling Marik's hot breath against his hand.

"I don't know," Marik said, lips moving against Seto's skin, "but I'd like to find out." It seemed to be working for Malik, Ryou and Otogi, after all…

Marik released Seto's hand and took a slow step closer, tilting the blue eyed former duellist's chin up just a little and leaning in to kiss him. It was a slow, deep and meaningful kiss without the rush of lust but just as passionate as a more forceful kiss would have been. Seto's perfectly manicured hands came up to rest on Marik's bare chest, one playing in the spiky hair at the nape of the Egyptian's neck. Marik's larger hands gravitated to Seto's slim waist and held him close, pulling them together and liking the way the slightly smaller duellist fit in his arms.

Meanwhile, in Bakura's room the thief lay on the bed, body drenched in sweat and arching up helplessly. His eyes were squeezed closed and he was gasping out every curse word he knew in at least three different languages. He was trying to be as quiet as he could, not wanting to wake Marik and Seto, who he assumed were asleep. In the morning he was going to have to have serious words with Ryou about leaving the link wide open and broadcasting his feelings when he was having sex. He wasn't entirely sure which was worse, this or the nightmares.

TBC.


	9. Chapter 9

Note: Thanks to Nameless One for your massive reviews! Bakura's past will be revealed at the end, it's already sort of hinted that the thing that freaked him out so much was his own death, I just haven't gotten to how he died yet and why it made him so scared of Yami. I'll get to that nearer the end, the whole fic is leading up to it, I suppose.

If you like Bakura angst, Brave New World is up now so go read it and leave me some reviews! I'm also re-posting pretty much everything I have on my computer that doesn't completely suck, so there'll be a helluva lot more fics up in the next few hours.

Dread and the Fugitive Mind – Part 9

When Seto awoke early the next morning it was to the feeling of a warm arm draped around his waist, holding him loosely against a strong chest behind him. He opened his eyes slowly, not snapping awake as usual but taking his time. He could see the grey morning light through the window across from him, brightening slowly as he watched with the promise of a sunny day.

"Morning, beautiful."

There was a smile in Marik's voice and he nuzzled the back of Seto's neck gently. Seto wasn't used to being called 'beautiful' by any means, but when Marik said it… he supposed it was ok.

"What time is it?" The blue eyed former duellist asked, turning in Marik's arms and sighting contentedly as he was pulled gently against the Egyptian's golden chest.

"Early. We should grab 'Kura and make good our escape before the others catch us." Marik said.

"You'd have to let me go first." Seto smiled.

"Do I have to?"

"I'm afraid so, unless you want to put up with Yugi following you around all day…" Seto kissed Marik, noting that the Egyptian actually took a moment to decide if it was worth letting him go.

"Oh, alright. But I'm making up the time later." Marik grinned, purple eyes sparkling as he released Seto and watched him get up.

"Can you walk around naked more often please?" He asked, complete with puppy eyes. Seto just laughed and threw a shirt at him.

XxXxX

Once they were dressed and washed they headed to Bakura's room, opening the door quietly in case he was still jumpy. The thief lay sprawled on the bed, thin sheets barely covering him and his white hair splayed across the pillows.

"Not…no…" He moaned quietly in his sleep, rolling onto his side and curling up.

"'Kura?" Marik followed Seto over and shook Bakura's shoulder gently, watching him slowly wake up, blinking tiredly in the morning light. After the night he'd just gone through it was no wonder he looked exhausted. He seemed tired all the time lately, Seto thought.

"If there isn't a good reason you just woke me up I'm going to do terrible and inventive things to you, Marik." Bakura glared sleepily.

"We're heading out before Yugi-tachi and the hikaris come looking for us." Marik explained, handing Bakura his clothes.

"Oh Ra, I just want to sleep, is that so much to ask?" The thief gave the ceiling of his room a hateful look and ran a hand through his hair.

"It seems like a nice enough day, I'll bring food and a couple of blankets – we can find somewhere to hide and sleep all day." Seto promised. Bakura sat up slowly, yawning.

"I like this plan." The thief decided, shooing them out so he could wash and get dressed. Marik made coffee and once Bakura emerged in faded jeans and a red AC/DC shirt the tomb keeper handed him a cup.

"Where are we going?" Bakura asked, looking to Seto because he usually seemed to know what he was doing.

"There's a large lake north of here, but that's probably where everyone else will be headed. If we go in the opposite direction there's a few smaller lakes and we shouldn't run into anyone if we head that way." The CEO said, a little tired himself.

"Come on then, I'll carry this lot since I'm the muscle around here." Marik flexed his arm as he picked up the bag Seto had packed, complete with two rolled up blankets.

"I'm not weak, I'm just tired." Bakura insisted, yawning. Seto held the door open for them both as they ventured out into the November sunlight. The weather was warm for the time of year and from the looks of things everyone in the other two cabins was still asleep.

"I left them a note saying we'd be back later." Seto informed the two yamis as the three of them followed him into the woods along a narrow trail.

"Wow, you're so organised. I like that." Marik grinned.

"Someone has to be," Seto replied with a smile, leading them through the trees, the path speckled with broken sunshine.

"If I'm the muscle and you're the brains, does that make 'Kura the eye candy?" Marik asked, in all seriousness.

"It makes me the one about to knock your eyeballs out of your skull with a tree branch if you don't watch it." Bakura threatened with a slight smirk.

"Now that'd be interesting," Seto mused, taking the left fork as the path split.

"Hey! Whose side are you on?" Marik mock-pouted.

"Neither, I'm completely neutral." Seto said as they approached a small lake and began to walk around the side of it to a grassy bank that looked to be a nice camping spot for the day.

"This looks good," Marik decided, setting the bag down and helping Bakura spread one of the blankets out on the grass.

"I can't believe I'm on a picnic…" Bakura said as he sat down.

"Why, what's wrong with that?" Marik asked, sitting next to the thief and dragging Seto down with him, opening the bag of food.

"It's just…girly. Like something hikari would do" The tomb robber made a face.

"Yeah, but they'll be picking flowers and chasing butterflies. We're just gonna eat and sleep." Marik placated as Seto helped him set out the food and Bakura lay down with his arms behind his head. The moment the thief closed his eyes though, Marik stuck a daisy in his hair.

"You," Bakura growled through a grin, "are now going to eat this flower."

With that said, Bakura struck and pretty much dived on Marik while Seto watched, laughing. The thief managed to pin the tomb keeper, who was much bigger than him, by sitting cross his chest with his knees on either side of the cackling Egyptian. It didn't really help Marik that he was laughing too much to defend himself.

"Eat it." Bakura demanded, holding the daisy to Marik's lips. The bigger yami snapped his teeth down over it with a click and made faces as he chewed and swallowed the flower.

"That was… oddly crunchy." Marik said, licking his lips.

"Bugs add flavour." Bakura claimed, getting off Marik and laying back down now that punishment due had been served.

"I think I'll stick to whatever Seto feeds me." Marik decided. "But feel free to jump me again any time."

"Does Malik know you're this…" Bakura began.

"Perverted? Yep." Marik said proudly, letting Seto feed him a cracker.

"Fair enough." The thief lay back down and closed his eyes.

XxXxX

The morning passed into afternoon with the three of them lazing on the blanket, the other, smaller blanket having been draped over Seto by Bakura since the CEO had been the first one to fall asleep. Marik had watched Bakura casually drape the blanket over Seto's shoulders and smiled, deciding that the three of them would fit very nicely together. All they had to do was find out what was wrong with Bakura, fix it, and then explain to him that he and Seto loved each other, but they also loved him. So why not all be together? That was where he expected Bakura would try and murder him.

Sighing, Marik looked over at Bakura, who was sitting up now and frowning.

"something wrong?" Marik asked, laying back down next to Seto and yawning.

"My leg went to sleep." Bakura winced as the feeling began to prickle back. "I'm going for a walk around the lake." He stood up unsteadily, cursing being mortal and muttering bitterly as he strode off.

"Is he ok?" A sleepy voice asked, and Marik turned to see Seto awake and sitting up.

"Fine, just pins and needles. He went to walk it off." Marik assured the blue eyed young man at his side, sitting up again to take Seto in his arms.

"Does he know we…?"

"He probably knows there's something going on, but he hasn't acted any weirder than usual." Marik shrugged. "Anyway, we'll get him soon enough." He grinned evilly, rubbing his hands together. Seto just smiled and leant up to kiss him, knowing he was right. Bakura made them complete, without him there was a gap in the relationship.

"Wow, weird couple alert." A voice cut through the peace around them and Seto pulled back, eyes widening. He'd know that voice anywhere.

"Never thought you two'd get together." Jounouchi grinned.

"Jou, don't…" Yugi pouted up at the blonde, begging him not to start a fight with Seto.

"What are you doing here?" Seto narrowed his eyes angrily, but stopped at a hand on his shoulder. He could sense Marik's worry in his touch.

"Where's the pharaoh?" The tomb keeper asked, having noticed that Yami wasn't with Yugi and Jou.

"Malik, Ryou an' Otogi wouldn't get outta bed, so we been walkin' around all day, explorin'." Jou said. "Yami's over there, said he wanted to talk to Bakura or somethin'."

"What?" Seto turned with Marik, just in time to see a flash of white on the other side of the lake, running back towards the cabins.

TBC


	10. Chapter 10

Note: Thankies for the lovely reviews! Sekai-no-hi reviewed loads, which makes me muchly happy. The next chapter of Brave New World will be up when I get time to type it, it's kinda lemony so I might get kicked off here again... Yeah. Flamethrower Queen, I'll definitely email you on my next day off work, whenever that might be. Your reviews are really helping me not chicken out of posting the rest of B.N.W. Can't believe I'm writing an M-preg... Even though it isn't really and possibly never will be...

Extra Note: No, I'm not killing Yami off (in this fic...), or even just maiming him a bit. He's the bad guy, I need him there for sequels, heheh. Also, I have no idea why my version of Bakura has suddenly turned so...uke. At least he's cute, right?

Dread and the Fugitive Mind – Part 10

Bakura had been about to head back to Marik and Seto when Yami stepped out in front of him. He froze, instantly realising he was alone with the man who'd killed him once before.

"Tomb robber." Yami greeted, approaching him.

"Pharaoh. Leave me be." Bakura frowned, clenching his fists as Yami came closer because his fingers were shaking.

"I want to ask you something." Yami stopped advancing and stared at him, arms folded across a leather-clad chest.

"I'm leaving. Whatever it is, I don't care." The thief hissed, turning to walk away. A hand locked around his wrist and pulled him back, startling a gasp from him.

"Tell me what they have that I don't!" Yami demanded, glaring and used to getting his own way even now. Bakura's chest tightened in fear and he yanked his wrist free, backing away with wide eyes.

"What…are you talking about?" The thief played dumb, although he knew Yami wanted him in a way he definitely wasn't comfortable with.

"Marik and Kaiba. What makes those two so special? Why do you keep running away from me?" The pharaoh demanded, and Bakura bolted. He spun around and dashed off through the trees towards where he could sense his hikari, hoping it would lead him back to the cabins and somewhere with a lock on the door. He wanted Marik and Seto with him, he felt stronger with them next to him. If he ran to them, though, he'd have to tell them everything. He'd have to remember it all, go over every detail and relive each moment. He wasn't ready for that yet, all he wanted was to be somewhere safe where Yami wouldn't come near him.

Since giving up his immortality to become mortal again he couldn't go back into the Ring, which had always been his sanctuary. He felt vulnerable without that safety, nowhere to hide that he was certain the pharaoh couldn't get in.

Breaking out of the trees at a dead run, Bakura was relieved to find himself back in the campsite. Without even stopping for breath he raced to the cabin he shared with Marik and Seto, rushing inside and searching frantically for any room with a lock on the door. The only ones were the two bathrooms, so he locked himself in the one connected to his room and pocketed the key, finally allowing himself to fall to his knees and catch his breath, exhaustion finally overriding his panic attack.

XxXxX

"Bakura? Bakura!" Marik and Seto called as they entered the silent cabin, having left Jounouchi and Yugi to find Yami and headed back to the cabin, hoping Bakura would be there.

With no reply forthcoming the two of them searched every room, turning on all the lights because dusk was falling. Worried sick, they ended up in front of the locked bathroom door, banging on it and receiving only silence.

"I have a key," Seto rushed off and fetched the key to the other bathroom, which fit the lock to either door.

"'Kura?" Marik asked as the lock clicked and the door swung open. He followed Seto into the bathroom and felt his blood run cold with fear when he finally spotted Bakura on the floor by the bath. The thief lay curled up, eyes closed and not moving, and Marik instantly thought the worst.

"He's ok," Seto assured, kneeling down next to Bakura and reaching to try and wake him, having seen that he was still breathing. Before Seto could even touch Bakura the tomb robber's eyes snapped open and he gasped, scrambling back against the side of the bathtub. His eyes were wide and it looked as though he'd been having a nightmare, because for a moment he didn't seem to know where he was.

"Bakura? Are you alright?" Seto asked in his low, soothing voice. The thief seemed to recognise it and snap back to himself, shuddering and hiding his face in his hands.

"What happened, 'Kura? Did pharaoh do anything?" Marik asked, sending Seto a worried glance. Bakura shook his head, shaking too much to speak. He'd had one of his nightmares again, and all he could see when he woke up was blood. Even now he could still feel his skin tingling, and he bought a trembling hand up to touch his throat, tracing the unmarked skin there to reassure himself.

"Come on, let's get out of the bathroom." Marik suggested, helping the slightly dazed Bakura up and leading him into the main living room, sitting him down on the couch. Seto and Marik took their places on either side of the thief and gave him a moment to collect his composure before finally asking him the question they'd avoided for so long.

"It's time to tell us, Bakura. We know Yami did something to you back in Egypt – what did he do?" Seto was the one to ask.

"Don't make me…" Bakura's voice was a whisper, struggling to keep his mind clear and not remember any details of what had happened.

"We can't help you if you don't tell us, 'Kura." Marik said, frowning.

"Why do you want to help me? Why do you even want to know?" Bakura stood up, whirling around to face them when they stood as well. "Why do you care?"

Seto and Marik looked at each other, some silent agreement passing between them, then closed in on the thief. Startled, Bakura tried to step back but Marik caught his hand and pulled him gently into their arms. Before he could speak a pair of warm lips met his own, another pair kissing his pale throat and the strong arms of two people he trusted holding his protectively. Too stunned to respond he stood in their arms, letting them kiss him as his mind reeled. When finally they released him having spoken more clearly than words what they wanted to give him and why they cared, he stumbled back a step, looking lost.

"Wh-what do you want from me?" He asked in a breaking voice, startled again when Marik pulled him into their arms once more,

"A kiss would be nice," the Egyptian smiled warmly, looking down at Bakura with no deception in his purple eyes. The thief turned to look at Seto and saw the same thing – usually cool blue eyes were warm and loving. Not knowing what to do or how to deal with everything, Bakura stared at the ground, lost, and slowly leant his head against Seto's chest. He was shaking again and Marik knew he couldn't deal with everything right now.

"Let's go to sleep, we can sort all this out in the morning." The tomb keeper suggested, letting Seto guide Bakura to their room while he switched out the lights in the living room and fetched Bakura's sleeping shirt from his room. Whatever happened in the morning, at least they'd have Bakura close to them tonight.

XxXxX

Bakurachanged into his nightshirt in a trance, not thinking about anything at all because the memories and confusion were right there, waiting to rush in on him.

As he came out of the bathroom he paused for a moment, not sure if he could do this – share everything with these two, spend the night protected by them. It seemed much easier being alone, but when Seto's arms wrapped around him from behind and Marik pulled back the covers for them his fears vanished. Maybe they could help him, maybe not, but at least he knew that between the two of them was the safest place he could be. Perhaps he'd get a decent night's sleep for once.

Silently, lost in his thoughts, Bakura allowed them to steer him over to the bed and lay down with him in the middle. Marik pulled the covers over them and Seto turned out the light before their arms draped over his waist protectively. It was warm and comfortable between them and he closed his eyes, knowing they were watching over him. With his forehead resting against Marik's chest and Seto holding him from behind, he relaxed his shaking, weary muscles and let their heartbeats and soft breathing carry him to sleep.

TBC

I can't write today. Hmm. This fic has almost 1000 hits, go me! I'm gonna go hide behind the couch now.


	11. Chapter 11

Note: Thanks so much for all the reviews, you lot keep me writing. Just wanna clear something up, even though this sounds like a rape fic, it isn't. Bakura didn't get raped by Yami in Egypt although I probably made it sound like he did at points. Anyway, yes, keep reading and you'll get all the details about what really happened to him.

Dread and the Fugitive Mind – Part 11

Bakura awoke alone, but he was used to that. Only when he remembered that there **should** have been someone there with him did he realise what being alone meant. He imagined Marik and Seto had probably left now that they'd seen just how terrified he really was, how hard it would be for him to recount his death to them. Was it worth the trouble? He hated being the weak one, hated being afraid and just lately, he hated being alone. He supposed he probably deserved it, and wondered if it would be better to give up this mortal body and be sent back to the Ring to remain a spirit forever. But… that meant never seeing them again. Seto and Marik, Ryou, Malik and Otogi, even Mokuba, who reminded him of what he'd been like before the Pharaoh's servants had razed Kuru Eruna. No, even if he always had that fear of the Pharaoh repeating the past, at least he'd get to see the few people he cared for. Marik and Seto especially, even if they didn't want him the way they'd thought. He'd still be able to see them, be near them and hear their voices. He could live with that.

Sighing with a slight, sad smile, Bakura stretched and realised he'd slept better than he had in months, perhaps even since he became mortal again. He yawned, wondering if Marik and Seto were ever going to come back, but the sound of the radio being turned on in the main room made him stop. They were still here? If they hadn't left… a twinge of apprehension tugged at his heart, telling him that now he'd have to tell them about his death, but at the same time elation rushed through him. They hadn't left him. He grinned, and at that moment the door opened and Marik appeared, surrounded by the sweet smell of pancakes and the sound of music playing from the kitchen.

"'Morning, 'Kura! Didn't think you'd be awake yet, come on out, Seto and I made breakfast." The spiky haired Egyptian's warm grin was infectious, and Bakura couldn't hold back his smile.

"Give me a minute to get washed, baka." He dragged himself up and disappeared into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Marik just grinned again and headed back into the other room where Seto was making coffee and listening to some catchy old rock song on the radio.

"He'll be out in a minute," Marik informed the brunette, grabbing his hips and swaying to the music.

"We should let him off telling us about everything just yet. Let's spend the day together first." Seto suggested, dancing with Marik and trying to stop himself from bursting out laughing.

"Good plan, it can be our first date!" Marik cackled. "Besides, I need to get used to being able to kiss you two whenever I want, instead of having to pinch myself to take my mind off it." The blonde smiled, then leant in and kissed Seto.

XxXxX

Bakura emerged from the bedroom a few minutes later feeling much better than he had in weeks. He headed into the main room towards the smell of food, receiving a kiss on the cheek from Marik and a smiled 'good morning' from Seto, who was sitting on the couch. Now there was something he was going to have to get used to: people being happy to see him.

Stalking over to the couch, Bakura made to sit down next to Seto but instead found himself pulled into the brunette's arms with a startled noise. He was **definitely** going to have to get used to this, and now Seto and Marik were laughing at him.

"What?" He growled, knowing exactly why they were laughing and almost blushing.

"you-you **squeaked!**" Marik cackled, pointing at him and giggling like an idiot. "Like a mouse!"

"I did not **squeak**." Bakura insisted petulantly, folding his arms. Seto smiled against his shoulder and wrapped his arms around the thief's waist.

"I thought it was cute," Seto murmured.

"Cute? **Me**!" Bakura looked mortified and Marik grinned like a maniac, heaping pancakes onto a huge plate.

"Very."

He **definitely** wasn't used to being called 'cute'.

Marik bought the plate of food over and set it on the coffee table before sitting down next to Seto. With a smirk he cut off a square of pancake and held it out to the CEO's lips.

"I think Seto is pretty cute too." The Egyptian yami remarked, laughing at the look on Seto's face. Bakura twisted in the brunette's lap to see too and snickered. With his eyes slightly wider than usual and one eyebrow raised in disbelief, Seto definitely did look cute.

"He's right for once," Bakura agreed, effortlessly insulting both of them at once.

"Hey, I'm allowed to jump you now so you'd better watch it!" Marik warned with a grin, feeding pancake to Bakura, who only liked the bits drenched in syrup.

"Are you feeling alright now?" Seto asked, glad to see Bakura looking happy and eating something. The tomb robber thought about his reply for a minute, chewing thoughtfully on a mouthful of pancake.

"Yes." He said finally. "I know you want me to tell you everything and I will, I just…"

"It's ok, tell us when you're ready." Marik smiled. They'd waited this long, they could wait a little more. "It's funny, I thought a three-way relationship would be weirder than this." The purple eyed yami remarked.

"None of us are exactly normal anyway," Seto reminded him. "And it seems to be working well enough for Malik, Otogi and Ryou."

"There is that. I just thought it'd feel strange, but it doesn't. What about you, 'Kura?" The tomb keeper asked, wondering how their thief was dealing with this on top of everything else. They'd only officially been together one night, but it felt like longer with everything they'd been through in the last couple of weeks.

"I have to talk about my feelings now?" Bakura looked disgusted for a moment then seemed to give in, closing his eyes and leaning back against Seto with a smirk. "Fine. In five thousand years I never found a single person I could trust completely. Now I have two." The thief said, tempted to add 'bloody typical' because Ryou's speech patterns were rubbing off on him. "And you, Seto?" He asked, turning to look at the CEO.

"Mokuba aside, I'm not used to caring about people, or having them care about me. It felt a little strange at first, but I've never felt better than I do now." He explained, smiling as Marik wrapped an arm around the both of them.

"Good, you're all mine!" The Egyptian declared, holding them both like he was never going to let go.

TBC

FlamethrowerQueen, I definitely want those pictures! I can't get into my inbox at the moment, though, because my computer is a heap of junk and keeps crashing. Do you have a Caleida journal, by any chance?


	12. Chapter 12

Note: Very short chapter, because I have to go carve pumpkins. Yeah, really.

Dread and the Fugitive Mind 12

The rest of the day was spent together, taking things slow and easy and getting used to being able to act 'coupley' with each other. They ate breakfast and talked through most of a movie, then decided to go out somewhere they definitely wouldn't run into anyone from the campsite. Seto called a taxi and the three of them deserted for a while to walk around the nearest little town on the outskirts of Domino, buying tacky souvenirs for Mokuba and stopping for lunch in a tiny café that Marik decided he liked.

Afterwards, as the afternoon wore on into evening, they headed back to the campsite and managed to avoid running into anyone as they made it back to their cabin.

Both Marik and Seto noticed that Bakura seemed less worried about coming across Yami now that they were with him. Knowing he wasn't alone had helped him a lot, so when an hour after they got back Seto answered the door to the pharaoh, Bakura didn't immediately bolt for his room. The thief just discreetly stepped closer to Marik, who stood protectively behind him as Yami entered the cabin.

"Where were you all day? We couldn't find you." The game king said, giving Bakura a searching look and sensing a change amongst the three.

"We spent the day shopping," Marik supplied, trying to sound easy but able to feel the tension coming from Bakura, who was watching every movement of Yami's hands like a hawk. Seto left the cabin door ajar for Yami to leave by and moved to take his place next to Bakura, who relaxed slightly. He could feel the strong presence of Marik behind him and Seto beside him, telling him he was safe.

"Shopping?" Yami seemed puzzled, not seeing why they'd need to shop on a camping trip.

"We wanted to spend the day together without your friendship club harassing us." Bakura finally spoke, sounding almost back to his old cocky, arrogant self. Marik sent Seto a relieved smile and Yami caught it, understanding what had changed.

"You three are… together, now?" He asked, looking like it was a hard idea for him to cope with but he was doing his best.

"Yes, is that a problem?" The thief narrowed his eyes, feeling Marik laugh softly behind him.

"No," Yami gave a weak smile and took in the three pairs of eyes watching him – one blood red and defensive; one vivid purple and protective; and one deep blue and proud. "I… wish you luck, I'm sure you'll be happy together." The pharaoh said, contemplating apologising to Bakura for whatever he'd done that made the thief run away from him. He had no idea what it was, though, so instead he decided that leaving them alone would be wiser, and quickly bid them goodnight, leaving through the door Seto had left open.

The moment Yami had gone and Seto had locked the door behind him, Bakura turned and all but collapsed into Marik's arms with a shudder.

"I hope that gets easier." The former grave robber whispered, feeling Seto's arms wrap around him and Marik holding them both.

"The look on his face was priceless." Marik smiled.

"He looked quite worried, perhaps he thinks the three of us together might be too much for him to handle." Seto smirked. They wouldn't cause much trouble, it was just nice to know they had the king of games worried.

"Let's go to bed," Bakura murmured, "there are things it's time I told you."

Marik looked down at the thief and ran a hand gently through soft white hair.

"Are you sure, 'Kura?" The Egyptian asked, not wanting to make Bakura relive anything he wasn't ready for.

"Yes. The sooner I do it, the sooner I can get over it." He decided, wincing at the thought. His death hadn't been clean, quick or painless but he knew Marik and Seto would be at his side as he recounted it. He needed to face up to it anyway.

"Alright, if it's time for a few bedtime stories I'll tell you how I got my pretty tattoos." Marik said, not wanting Bakura to be alone. Seto nodded and smiled slightly.

"And I'll tell you about Gozaburo, as long as you don't tell Mokuba the worst bits." The blue eyes CEO offered, leading the way to the bedroom they were sharing.

"This is going to be a night to remember." Bakura smirked bitterly, following Seto into their room as Marik turned out the lights.

TBC

There's one chapter left of the actual fic, then a kind of bonus chapter thingy becauseI wasn't satisfied with the ending. I'll post the next chapter next time I update Brave New World. Happy Halloween!


	13. Chapter 13

Note: There's one more chapter after this, and I'll post it today because I'm feeling generous and I love all the reviews you lot keep sending me. PlusI spent hours typing the final part out and my arse is going numb from this bloody chair. Yes, so I hope you all enjoy it!

Dread and the Fugitive Mind 13

"I'll go first, Seto's already heard most of this anyway." Marik volunteered. He knew neither of the other two wanted to be the first to bare all about their pasts. With Bakura in the middle as usual they were sharing the large bed in the first bedroom, curled up together. Bakura was leaning against Marik's arm comfortably, and Seto was leant against the headboard. Bakura had one of Seto's hands in his and was tracing patterns on it nervously, following the lines of his palm with pale fingers.

"Well, the tattoos on my back are the key to the pharaoh's memory, which pretty much everyone knows by now. Malik's father had them branded into us, cut and burned so the scars would never heal. It hurt." Marik muttered the last part, glad he'd killed the old man. He shrugged his shirt off so Bakura could see, and the thief sat up to take a closer look. He had pretty much the same reaction as Seto – running light fingers over the scars reverently. There was a look in his eyes that Marik recognised as shared pain, and anger flared in the yami. He hated the thought of anyone hurting either Bakura or Seto, and hearing about what they'd been through was going to be hard on him.

"I try to look on the bright side," Marik said with a forced smile, "at least they look cool."

To his surprise, Bakura quietly leant forward and kissed the scars gently, leaning his forehead against Marik's back for a few moments. Seto knew what Bakura was feeling, the same thing he'd felt when he'd first seen the scars. That they hadn't been deserved, and they'd be with Marik forever.

"Your turn." Marik told Seto gently, taking the hand Bakura had been playing with and raising it to his lips to kiss each fingertip as the CEO spoke quietly.

"Gozaburo was my stepfather, that's where Mokuba and I got the Kaiba name from. He adopted us after our parents died and I beat him at a chess match. He was just… generally cruel. There wasn't one instance where he was any worse than usual; he was always a power-mad, sadistic bastard. I had to do what he said and he'd pretty much leave Mokuba alone, so I put up with his punishments. He had this cane…" Seto winced at the memory of what would happen when he fell asleep studying. "I suppose he almost managed to turn me into what he wanted in the end… but not quite." The brunette smiled slightly, almost yelping in shock when Marik pulled him into the arms of his lovers.

"The people who hurt you are in hell now." Bakura said quietly, knowing how important that was. Seto moved so that Bakura could lay against him, both of them in Marik's arms as the thief closed his eyes and steeled himself for what he was about to tell them.

"I…" He swallowed thickly and began again. "You know that I was a thief. I stole from tombs, a terrible crime in Egypt. I had no other way to live after Kuru Eruna was destroyed, but eventually I was caught. Akunadin, who had destroyed my home, knew that I was the last of Kuru Eruna, and branded me the thief king. To cover his sins he pinned every theft from a tomb since the making of the Sennen Items on me, and convinced the pharaoh that I deserved none but the worst punishments. They… the pharaoh had me tortured before him – I only remember moments of it. The rest if just pain." Bakura said in a voice that was barely a whisper. His eyes were pained, and Seto and Marik knew that he was seeing what had been done to him again.

"I remember… blood, seeing the white of my bones when they cut into my arms, not being able to see from the pain for hours after they crushed my hands to stop me trying to pick the locks on my shackles. They drove stakes through to shatter my ankles, cut the hieroglyph for 'thief' into my flesh over and over…" Bakura shuddered and closed his eyes, knowing that the other two were looking at him in pity and horror. "Then… after a month or more they bought me before the pharaoh's throne. He said that I should never enter the afterlife and held up the Sennen Ring, but I could barely see by then. All I remember after that is watching the pharaoh's eyes as his guards forced me to my knees, pulled my head back by my hair and-and-" He was trembling, Seto holding him tightly and Marik rubbing his back comfortingly.

"They pressed a blade to my throat and drew it across. I did not think I had that much blood left in me, but everything faded away into darkness and I thought that I could rest in death. They would not allow that, though, and tore my soul from my body to imprison me in the Ring. And all the time… the pharaoh watched." Bakura finished, burying his face against Seto's chest and breathing heavily. He'd never told anyone that before. "When I awoke within the Ring I became the thief king he believed me to be." Bakura said with a shiver.

"So that's why being around Yami…" Seto understood finally. Bakura frowned into the brunette's chest, angry at himself.

"I should be stronger than this… Every time he looks at me I feel the blade across my neck. He would have been present at the execution of hundreds of thieves and murderers, he doesn't even remember. It was fine until I became mortal again because I couldn't die, but now…" The thief whispered.

"Now we're here. You know he can't ever hurt you with us around, and we're not going anywhere." Marik reassured him.

"I hate to say it, but I think Yami's a good person now. Yugi probably has something to do with it, but I don't think he has it in him to really hurt anyone." Seto said, looking down at Bakura, who sat up. His eyes were a little red, but the pain in them was already fading. He was surprised how good it felt to tell Marik and Seto everything and have them understand why being around Yami again as a mortal was so hard.

"I know he's changed. So have I." Bakura sighed, running a hand through his hair. "It's just…taking me a while to get used to not having the security of already being dead."

Marik smiled.

"But you're glad you're here with us, right?" He asked. Bakura looked up at him and gave half a smile.

"Yeah." The grave robber admitted. "I think with you two around I'll be ok."

"Good." Marik said sincerely, then grinned. "So shall we hold you tight all night long?"

Bakura smirked, knowing that what he'd told them was the truth. With Seto on one side and Marik on the other, things would definitely be ok from now on.

"I don't have a problem with that," he answered Marik, laying down between the two of them as Seto turned out the light.

"Good." The tomb keeper said, and in the darkness Bakura felt two pairs of warm arms wrap around him.

The End.

Next chapter is kinda the sequel, and has a lemon in there somewhere. Read on if you dare.


	14. Chapter 14

**Note: **I know Bonfire night is just a British thing, but now you lot get to share the joy of standing around in the cold looking at a fire.

**Important!** This is the sequel to Dread, but I wasn't happy with the last chapter so I decided to stick this on the end instead to wrap things up better. For everyone who reviewed Dread and put up with my unreliable updates. I took two sick days to get this and the end of BNW finished. Getting fired over a fic would be interesting...

**Warning! **This chapter contains a lemon, if you don't like that sort of thing please don't read it anyway and get pissed at me!

Dread and the Fugitive Mind 14 – Final Chapter

**One year (-ish) after the end of Dread.**

Bakura stood, arms folded and wearing far too many layers of clothes, staring up at the enormous pile of branches and logs heaped in the middle of the garden at the back of the Kaiba mansion. Nearby, Malik and Otogi were helping Ryou throw pretty much anything flammable they could find onto the unlit bonfire, readying it for after dark, since it was November 5th. The three lovers were scurrying around getting things ready, while Bakura's own significant others were inside helping cook various treats for after nightfall.

"Are you going to help, or just stand there?" Ryou asked, coming up to prod Bakura into doing something. The thief gave him a sideways glare and carried on contemplating the bonfire, feeling tired and grumpy because he hated cold weather.

"Why are we doing this?" He demanded of his hikari, who laughed, watching Otogi slyly sticking leaves in Malik's hair every time the Egyptian turned his back on the dice player.

"Because I'm British and I enjoy making your life miserable by imposing my culture on you," Ryou smiled sweetly.

"Does this actually have any significance, or do you British just like fire?" The tomb robber muttered, at least wanting to know WHY they were going to all this trouble.

"November the 5th is the date Guy Fawkes tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament. That's why we have that thing to burn. I think it looks a little like Dinosaur Ryuzaki, it must be the hat." Ryou said, gesturing to the Guy, which was propped against the side of the bonfire, ready to be placed on top before it was lit. The body was made from a sack filled with leaves, and the arms and legs were just a pair of jeans and an old ratty jacket stuffed with straw. The head was made from a football with straw for hair and a woolly hat keeping it all together, a face drawn on the ball by Marik, who had the artistic skills of a two-year-old.

"Why is it we're only allowed to eat toffee apples and baked potatoes wrapped in tinfoil? Can't we just order a pizza?" Bakura almost whined. He blamed the cold, and wished he could just sleep through winter like a squirrel. Hibernation sounded really good. Or just a nap.

"No! You have to get in with the spirit of the holiday! It's bland English food or nothing!" Ryou insisted, and Bakura wondered why everyone else thought humouring Ryou's eccentricity was a good idea. "It'll be fun, yami!"

"Sure," the thief replied, not even trying to keep the sarcasm out of his voice. "I'm going to lie down." He muttered, heading back towards the mansion.

"Tired?" A smooth, silken voice asked as a pair of strong arms wrapped around Bakura's waist and hips from behind.

"Mh'mm." The tomb robber drawled out, leaning back into the embrace. Marik walked past just then, wearing a frilly apron and carrying a bowl of cookie mixture with a wooden spoon in it. He stopped to give Bakura a quick kiss on the cheek, then grinned at him and continued on over to the oven, stirring the mixture happily. He seemed to be enjoying cooking; he'd been at it all day.

"Before you ask, I didn't give him that apron. I don't know where he got it from." Seto stated in his defence, holding the smaller figure in his arms and letting Bakura lean against him.

"It suits him." Bakura smirked, which became a yawn after a moment.

"Come on, you should get some sleep. They're not lighting the fire for another few hours yet, they still have to fight over who gets the honour." Seto yawned as well, since it was infectious, and steered the sleepy thief towards the stairs.

"Coming too?" The tomb robber asked, disentangling himself from Seto's arms to make the walk up the stairs to their room a little easier. Seto hesitated at the foot of the stairs, thinking about it.

"I should stay down here and make sure nobody gets into the fireworks before due time, but I'm sure they'll be alright for a couple of hours." The brunette sighed, running a hand through his hair and following the albino up the staircase.

"Famous last words. You have insurance, right?" Bakura grinned, reaching their room and making his way into the dimly lit interior gratefully.

"Very funny." Seto rolled his eyes a little, closing the door behind them and stripping off his shirt, throwing it into a corner as Bakura did the same. "Could you imagine the damage Jounouchi could do if he got into a box of fireworks? It's just lucky the Super Friends haven't arrived yet. They're due here in two and a half hours, by the way."

"Joy. Then I shall have two and a half hours of peace. Ryou won't let me sleep through the whole thing." The thief said in a voice that stated how unfair he thought that was. Seto finished pulling off his boots and left his jeans on, watching Bakura yank on one of Marik's large shirts to sleep in before wrapping his arms around the albino again and leading him over to the bed.

"I'm sure you'll enjoy it later on, after everything's calmed down." Seto placated, slipping under the covers after the smaller figure and pulling the blankets up over them.

"Hmph." Bakura muttered, too tired to think of any better reply as he curled up in Seto's arms, letting the CEO's soft breathing lull him easily into sleep. Seto closed his eyes too, running his fingers through Bakura's white hair gently before drifting off to sleep as well.

"Mmmh…I have an itch…" Bakura's sleepy murmur made Seto smile, running his long, elegant fingers over the albino's back through his sleeping shirt.

"Where?" Seto asked, knowing the thief in his arms was determined not to wake up properly for as long as possible.

"Down…up…there." Bakura gave a satisfied groan as pleasure as Seto found it and killed it.

"We should head downstairs," the brunette looked at his watch, "Yugi and his friends will be here in half an hour. We also deserted Marik and left him to face Malik, Otogi and Ryou on his own."

"Marik is a good babysitter. Besides, we can make it up to him later, I'm not moving for at least twenty minutes." Bakura insisted, refusing to open his eyes and laying with his back to Seto, who smirked wickedly.

"Is that so?" The CEO's voice lowered a little.

"Mh'mm." Bakura mumbled, still not opening his eyes.

"So you won't move at all? Even if I do… this?" Seto's hands made their way beneath the covers and over Bakura's hip, long fingers tracing patterns on the insides of the albino's warm thighs.

"You…are cruel…" Bakura half yawned, half moaned as Seto took heated flesh in his hand.

"I'm known for it." The brunette whispered hotly against the back of Bakura's neck as the tomb robber arched into him. "It seems I've managed to wake you up."

"Ah…ah…yes…" Bakura gasped as Seto stroked him firmly, pale fingers curling in the sheets and the CEO's smirking lips on his neck. "You'll pay for this later…"

"Where's 'Kura?" Marik asked as Seto made his way into the kitchen alone, looking smug.

"Taking a shower." Seto smirked, waiting until Marik turned back tot he cookies he was making before stealing one from the fresh-baked batch on the table. Living with an expert thief had taught him a few tricks, the most useful one being 'if anything goes missing, blame Bakura.'

"Have Yugi-tachi arrived yet?" Seto asked, though the house was quiet and nothing was on fire, so it seemed doubtful.

"We have." A deep voice answered before Marik could, belonging to Yami. The pharaoh wandered into the kitchen, drawn to the smell of Marik's cooking and trying to get out of helping set things up in the garden.

"Everyone else is outside?" Marik asked, taking the rest of the treats for the party out of the oven and switching it off, then having a look out the window to see if it was dark yet.

Dusk had fallen and through the window the huge outline of the unlit bonfire was visible, garden candles staked into the ground lighting up as Yugi went around with a box of matches and lit them. Ryou was handing out packets of sparklers while everyone else stood around talking beside the tables that held the food, drinks and the huge box of fireworks. Even from so far away Marik could see Jounouchi staring longingly at the rockets and Anzu belting him in the side of the head with her purse every time he began to sidle towards them.

"Shall we go get this over with?" Bakura suggested as he stalked into the kitchen, ignored Yami completely and made his way over to Marik to steal a cookie. Unlike Seto, the tomb robber didn't even wait until Marik's back was turned, yet still managed to get away with it, smirking the entire time.

"Hey, those are for later, no stealing them!" Marik said, brandishing his spatula like a weapon.

"Did you see me take it?" Bakura asked, trying to look innocent.

"Well… no." Marik admitted, because Bakura's thiefy fingers were far too fast for him to get caught, even if one was staring right at him. It was almost like a magic trick.

"Then it never happened. These are good, by the way." The albino grinned, leaning up to give Marik a quick kiss while the tomb keeper untied his apron.

"You're in a better mood now," Seto commented, knowing that no matter what Bakura said – Ryou's excitement was catching and it was going to be a fun night.

"It warmed up." The thief replied, because he liked to blame the cold weather for everything wrong in the world.

"Good, then let's go light the fire," Marik suggested, hanging his apron on a hook, grabbing the two plates piled high with cookies and following Yami out the back door and across the huge mansion gardens to where everyone was waiting in the light of the candles.

"Yami!" Ryou squealed happily, running up to his darker half.

"You're right, it does look like Dinosaur Ryuzaki." Bakura decided, staring up at the Guy now perched on the very top of the giant bonfire.

"Told you so! And you know what's good about bonfires?" Ryou said as Marik set the cookies on the food table.

"Naked pagan dancing?" Bakura guessed, earning a lecherous grin from Marik.

"I was going to say they're warm, but your idea is good too." Ryou laughed, getting cheers from Otogi and Malik, who grabbed the hikari and dragged him over to help light the fire.

XxXxX

Flames crackled and licked their way quickly over the mountain of debris it had taken all day to build. Marik raised an eyebrow at Malik, who grinned and held up an empty petrol can proudly, Bakura catching the exchange and rolling his eyes.

"Ah, I taught him well." Marik wiped away a mock tear. "I'm so proud."

"And yet he still can't cook," Otogi said. "Weird."

The dice player was decked out in a tight, almost threadbare black Metallica T-shirt and a pair of Malik's jeans. Since Otogi, Malik and Ryou were almost exactly the same size they rarely bought new clothes; they just wore Malik's because he had more clothes than all the women they knew put together.

"When do we get ta play wit' da fireworks?" Jounouchi asked hopefully, joining the group stood around the food table, filling up on snacks.

"You? Never." Seto folded his arms. "I'd like to keep my house intact, you're not going near the rockets. You're lucky you're allowed sparklers."

"'Ey!" Jou growled, "I'm just as good as anyone else!"

"I'm doing it." Bakura said coolly, knowing that Jou wouldn't argue with him, especially when Marik was stood behind him, grinning.

Things were generally pretty calm between them all nowadays, but Marik and Bakura could still scare the kids now and then, when they wanted to.

"The fire is nice, huh?" Ryou changed the subject now that Jou seemed to have given up. "It reminds me of England."

"Yeah, food's good too. Thanks Marik." Yugi smiled happily, looking up at the much taller yami towering over him.

"No problem," Marik laughed, eating cheese and pineapple on a cocktail stick and making odd faces.

"It's kinda romantic, don't you think?" Otogi remarked, standing close to Malik and Ryou.

"Yeah. Shame it's not the real Ryuzaki, though." Malik sighed, not liking the dinosaur duellist since the time he'd gotten drunk and come on to Ryou.

Yami left them to themselves and went to stand near Seto, while Jou and Yugi hung around near the food.

"Fancy a walk?" Marik asked Bakura, who nodded.

"M'hmm. In fact, I think there's something you can help me with…"

XxXxX

"What do you see in those two?" Yami asked, leaning against a bench while Seto sat down on the far end, drink in hand. He'd certainly changed a lot in the past year, before Bakura and Marik had come into his life he never would have let himself relax in front of anyone, not even Mokuba.

"That was sudden," The CEO sipped his drink, leaning back comfortably. From this distance he could watch the others by the fire and still feel the warmth of it, yet at the same time he could be a little way apart from the main party.

"I've always wondered." _What does a man who can have anyone see in two maniacs?_ Yami thought, not saying it out loud because he'd discovered a few times how protective the three were of each other.

"They give me everything I need." Seto murmured after thinking it over for a little while.

Yami frowned.

"I don't understand."

"Nor do I, really." The brunette stood up, leaving his empty glass on the bench. "I'm going to see where they've gone." He nodded politely to Yami and excused himself, heading off into the rest of the huge garden.

Yami's question hadn't been that out of the ordinary, the game king never had been able to completely wrap his mind around the three of them being together. Seto couldn't imagine life any other way now, though. He could still remember the time during Battle City and the aftermath, where the high point of his day had been getting back from work at night and going to sleep. He cared about Kaibacorp a lot, but it'd completely taken over his life then. Dueling had been his only way out. Then, when Mokuba had gone off to college, he'd come home every night to a huge, empty house and feel like walking right back out again.

But then Marik had been there and together they'd taken care of Bakura when his past had been too much for him to cope with alone. Now he came home every day to Marik cooking strange American food and Bakura sitting at the kitchen table reading the newspaper, or designing new security features for the mansion or the Kaibacorp building. They didn't let him brood anymore, they dragged him out or made him watch crazy foreign movies or drive around in the car with the top down. He liked it when they drove over to Mokuba's college and picked him up, then got ice cream and went shopping for all the things they swore they couldn't live without. Marik's zombie movies, Bakura's devil music CDs, Mokuba's video games and his books. Sometimes they tagged along with Malik, Otogi and Ryou to concerts, or went bar-hopping, but whatever they did he was always much, much happier than he'd ever been before. They'd been together just over a year now and Seto couldn't imagine things being any more perfect.

Making his way across one of the lawns, Seto walked towards a small pagoda-styles garden house sitting amongst the trees but still managing to capture the light from the fire a little way away. He suspected that was where Bakura and Marik had gotten to, so he made his way up the three steps and inside between the pillars at the entrance.

Suddenly he felt warm, strong arms take hold of him from behind, pulling him back against a solid chest. He wasn't worried, he knew Marik's touch by now and in front of him a white apparition was stepping out of the shadows slowly.

XxXxX

"Didn't I tell you that you'd pay for waking me up earlier?" Bakura smirked evilly, standing in front of Seto. The brunette's wrists were held behind his back by Marik, who stood behind him, kissing his throat. Seto cold feel the smile on Marik's lips and a tremor of excitement ran through him, knowing what was about to happen.

"You may have mentioned it… What about Yugi-tachi?" Seto couldn't see the bonfire from where he stood pressed against Marik, but he could see the shadows of the fire dancing against the far wall of the pagoda.

Bakura's eyes narrowed wickedly and he stepped closer until Seto could feel the burning heat of the thief.

"You'll just have to make sure you don't scream too loudly, won't you? Although I'm sure they'd _love_ to see what I'm about to do to you…" Bakura trailed off wickedly.

Seto heard Marik laugh softly against the tingling skin of his neck as they both watched Bakura sink to his knees with the fluid movements of a snake. Blood red eyes darkened with lust and the white haired yami unbuckled Seto's belt, making sure to draw his zipper down agonizingly slowly.

"Remember not to scream…" Marik's deep voice murmured an instant before Bakura raised his dark red eyes and smirked, leaning forward to take Seto in his mouth.

"Ahh!" Seto cried, head falling back onto Marik's shoulder. The taller yami released his wrists and he clung to Marik's sleeve with one hand, the other fisting in Bakura's soft, white hair. Marik's arm wrapped around his waist, pulling him tight against the strong presence behind him, holding him up.

"_How does it feel…?"_ The amethyst eyes yami whispered as Seto gasped and writhed in his arms. Not trusting himself to be able to speak coherently, the brunette turned his head and kissed Marik, moaning against the yami's lips as the tomb keeper deepened the kiss, leaving him breathless. Bakura's lips and teeth and tongue had Seto helpless in no time and the flickering shadows melted into darkness as his eyes slid closed, fist clenching in Bakura's hair. Marik's hand rested on his slim stomach and felt the muscles there tighten, lips quickly closing once more over Seto's to cut off his sharp cry. The sound became a long, low moan, the CEO collapsing against Marik breathlessly.

"Hmm… I was hoping they'd hear us and come running." Bakura grinned, licking his lips as he stood up gracefully. Seto, still recovering, gave him a weak mock glare for even suggesting that, but Marik let him lean against the wall and stepped forward.

"There's always you, 'Kura. We all know how loud _you_ are in bed, perhaps I can make you scream. What do you think, Seto? How would you like a show?" Marik pulled off his shirt and tossed it to one side, advancing on Bakura, whose eyes widened.

"I think it's a great idea," Seto smirked, glad the tables were turned on the thief.

"Traitor," Bakura accused Marik, who laughed and darted forward to catch the smaller yami, pinning him against the wall with a knee between his thighs.

"I think Ryou's right about this holiday. We should definitely do this every year." Marik decided as he slid his hand down the back of Bakura's jeans and caught the tomb robber's lips in a heated kiss.

Seto watched, silently agreeing with the taller yami as Marik's fingers pushed inside Bakura, the thief arching his body against the tanned Egyptian with a bitten back cry.

"_You taste like Seto…"_ Marik whispered to Bakura as they kissed again, the albino's jeans yanked off and tossed to join Marik's shirt. Long, pale legs wrapped around Marik's waist and Bakura threw his head back, white hair flying and animalistic growls leaving his throat as Marik sunk into him, large, tanned hands standing out warm against cool, white skin at Bakura's hips.

Seto watched, enjoying the show as Marik slammed Bakura up against the wall and the albino clawed at his back, crying out with each thrust. Of the three of them, Bakura had always been the loudest during sex, and Seto loved hearing him cry out almost as much as _making_ him cry out.

"Ohh, Ra, yes!" The smaller thief groaned, burying his pale fingers in Marik's spiky hair as the bigger yami nipped at his neck and shoulders beneath his open shirt. Lust-glazed red eyes fixed on Seto for a moment and Bakura gasped out a plea for Marik to give him more. The tomb keeper took Bakura in his hand and stroked him firmly in time to their movements, earning a string of moaned words in a language neither he nor Seto understood. Hearing the foreign, ancient words from Bakura's lips bought Marik to the edge and he growled deeply, slamming the other yami against the wall and burying his seed deep inside the pale thief. The burst of heat inside him was enough to finish Bakura and he dug his claw-like nails into Marik's shoulders, screaming like a wild animal and arching his back, every muscle taut as white pleasure rushed over him.

After a moment Marik managed to slide to the ground where Bakura collapsed against him and they both knelt, panting.

"Here they come," Seto laughed, watching the glow of sparklers and torches heading their way.

"Lovely." Bakura smirked a little breathlessly. "Help me up, I've spent far too long on my knees tonight."

"What makes you think it's over?" Marik asked slyly, tossing Bakura his jeans as Seto helped the thief up.

"Your sex drive never ceases to amaze me. Let's at least deal with _them_ before we do anything further." The tomb robber suggested, gesturing to the group of lights getting closer. Truth be told he at least wanted to give his legs a chance to stop trembling before they dragged him off and had their way with him. Not that he was complaining.

XxXxX

Fireworks burst loudly in the darkness, coloured light washing again and again over the large gardens and the huge mansion. Next to the bonfire figures warmed themselves as they watched the show, nobody really minding that there were three missing.

Inside the great mansion, at the very top of a huge staircase and down a long corridor lay the master bedroom. Inside was a mess – clothes scattered about the floor and the sheets on the enormous bed wrinkled. On one side of the room a glass door was open, leading out onto a balcony where the missing three were found watching the fireworks, wrapped up in the massive quilt from their bed. The smallest figure stood between the other two, who were keeping him warm because he hated the cold.

Leaning back against Seto and Marik, a warm cover draped over them all, Bakura gave one of his most devilish smiles.

"I think I know why Ryou likes this night so much." The thief said, knowing this was going to be a yearly tradition from now on. "There's something in the air."

The others agreed with him, and as the fireworks continued to crackle and blossom in the darkness, Marik pulled the quilt up around their shoulders, drawing them closer together.

The End.

Aaaand... it's finally over. Woo-hoo. Ok, no rest for the wicked, I have a new fic to work on, mwahah. Thankies for the reviews, and go read some of my other stuff, because I'm fairly sure it's better than this.


End file.
